The values of cumulants are expected to be influenced by enhanced fluctuations of conserved charges in the vicinity of the critical point, rendering them a signal for the existence of the critical point and a first-order phase transition in QCD [1]}, [2]}, [3]}. In particular it is argued that, for systems crossing the phase diagram close to and above the critical point, the sign of the third-order cumulant, \(\kappa _3\) , will change [4]}, while the fourth-order cumulant, \(\kappa _4\) , will exhibit a nonmonotonic behavior [5]}. Because cumulants of the baryon number distribution can be measured in experiment, they provide one of the strongest links between theoretical predictions and experimental data. Preliminary results from the Beam Energy Scan indeed suggest that the fourth-order cumulant ratio, \(\frac{\kappa _4}{\kappa _2}\) , exhibits non-monotonic behavior with the collision energy [6]}.
